Of Star's and Stray's
by Hat'N'Clogs
Summary: Renji Abarai, age 21, occupation; mechanic. His life? Pretty ordinary, he was pretty comfortable with his life, he had friends, a good job, a pretty nice apartment near work, but, a microscopic ping of emptiness was felt inside of him. Until he meets the one and only, Rukia Kuchiki. (I'm sucky at summary's) I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ITS CHARACTERS. Bleach AU Pairing RenRuki
1. A Glance at The Sky

**AN: Hi! This is my first /published/ fanfiction! I really love the pairing RenRuki and I thought they needed more love so here we go! I really wanna continue this fanfiction so please review! (Sorry for ANY spelling mistakes). M for Mature Language, and later lemons. I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ITS CHARACTERS.**

-Stray's POV-

Renji Abarai washed his hands, water turning black as the oil and grime came off his hands. The red head dried his hands and continued to close up shop for the night, unfortunately having to work the latest shifts, he had to close.

Ever since the boy was little, he had always had a love for cars. Room always race car themed in his childhood; Renji shared his love of cars with his father, the man who raised him single handedly. He had fond memories of him and his pops working on things together, as long as it had a motor, they were on it. In high school, with graduation approaching fast, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance in a college, and suddenly a full time mechanic position opened in a local auto shop, he snatched it right up. The pay wasn't bad either, soon after getting the job, he had enough to find his own place and start living on his own. Now at the age of 21, he was pretty comfortable with his life, he had friends, a good job, a pretty nice apartment near work, but, a microscopic ping of emptiness was felt inside of him.

The red head shoved his belongings into his jean pockets and headed out the door, turning to lock it shut. Renji had never really left his home of Kurakara Town, he was raised here, went through school in this wretched place, but he couldn't find a need to leave. He pulled his jacket closer to him as the cooling autumn wind picked up, the autumns in Kurakara town where always gorgeous.

The walk home was the usual, with his apartment so close to the local college, the place was pretty busy.

"Oh come on pretty baby, I ain't gon'ta do nothin'." Walking past, Renji's ears perked, was that the sound of a local douche bag talking trash to a woman? Indeed it was. "Get your grimy hands off of me, _scum_." Stopping right in his tracks, he stood there listening, maybe he didn't need to step in, the girl sounded like she could take care of herself. "That's no way to talk to a man who is trying to show you a good time, bitch. I should tear you apart for saying that to me." His chocolate eyes looked to the situation, a small girl trapped under one ugly motherfucker, and he had his hands at her neck. He wouldn't _stand_ to see a man handle a woman like that.

Hands packed in this jacket pockets, he strolls over to the man, grabbing him by the collar, "Get your hands off of her." "W-What the hell?! Man get off me, let me go!" The man, clearly startled at this point, removed himself from the girl, as Renji expected him to. Letting the man go from his grips, he ran from the scene, he looked at the woman, her books puddled at her feet. Her eyes like nebulas themselves, hues of purple and blue behind an icy glare, her hair woven of the blackest silk, and damn she was gorgeous. "You did not have to help me; I could have taken care of him on my own, thank you." Her voice shook him from his thoughts, "He had ahold of your neck, and he could have snapped you in half." Renji bent down, picking up her books. _'Philosophy? She must be a college student.'_ Standing back up, he noticed how short she really was, and little too. "Thank you for that too, I suppose." "The names Renji, Renji Abarai." He watched as she adjusted the books carefully back into her arms, "Nice to meet you Renji, I'm Rukia Kuchiki." Renji's eyes widened, "Kuchiki?! Like Byakuya Kuchiki?! The dude who owns half of Kurakara Town and then some?!" "That 'dude' who owns half of Kurakara Town is my brother."

-Star's POV-

All she wanted to do was return to her dorm to retire for the night, but that proved to be difficult tonight. First some hobo trying to rip off her pants, then this kid who 'rescued' her from the ugly situation, and now he's hollering about her brother.

"That 'dude' who owns half of Kurakara Town is my brother." Rukia looked to the taller man, flaming red hair and a large amount of tattoos, she reminded herself to stay on her toes, but he seemed harmless, almost like a _puppy_. "Woah! That's awesome! I bet you get all kinds of special treatment." "Special treatment? Hardly. I'm not a celebrity, and my brother isn't one either, he just knows how to manage money really well." Her eyes scanned him once more, ' _He looks kinda goofy_.' "Well it was nice to meet you, but I must return back to my dorm." Resting her purse back on her shoulders, she walked about 2 feet, only to be interrupted, _again_. "Wait! Let me walk you back to your dorm, for safety." If her eyes could roll back into her head, they would have. "I'm fine thank you, I can talk myself home." Renji came rushing in front of her, "Come on, I don't bite, I don't see the harm in walking you home." "Fine. Do as you please." Rukia sighed inwardly, she was tired, and it was almost 11 P.M. Most college students wouldn't complain about staying up late, but she did, she was both sleeping, studying, or working and she doing neither three of those things.

"What are you majoring in?" Renji piped up, and she looked to him, "Literature." "Hmm, I see, seems fitting, so you just read large philosophy books for fun I guess?" Rukia looked to her books in her arms, "You could say that. I work at the college library, so I read a lot."

When was the last time she had a conversation like this with someone that wasn't Orihime? Honestly it had been a while. Seeming how Orihime was her roommate, she spent most of her time with her. But over her years in college, she never made an effort to make friends, she never had the time. Being her senior year of college, she had been locking herself up in her room or the library.

" _Please Rukia! I'm sure the studying can wait, will you please go have lunch with me and a couple of friends, it will only be for a little while. And I promise as soon as you are done eating, you can come right back up here and finish studying!" Rukia sat upright on her bed and put down her pen, rubbing her eyes. Orihime had been begging her to go out for 15 minutes. "Alright, alright. I will get dressed I suppose."_

"Are you attending this college?" Rukia's gaze turned to Renji as they walk, "Nope, I'm not cut out for the college thing. I'm a mechanic over at Inuzuri Customs." He did smell a little of oil and carbonator cleaner. Rukia noticed the familiar trees and buildings, _'Almost there.'_ The lights of the sidewalk glowed warmly even the brisk autumn air blew past them, making Rukia's hair be thrown in a frenzy. "See, aren't ya' glad I walked you home, shorty? No mean bullies to snatch ya' up?" Rukia could see his grin out of the corner of her eyes, "Call me short again and I will make you regret you walking me home, pineapple." Crossing her arms pompously, she could tell she hit a nerve. "Better be glad I don't hit women." She gave a small laugh, "Right." Rukia stopped at her dorm building doors, "Well we have arrived, you may take your leave." Renji threw his head back in a laugh, "You are something else, I will see you around. I might just have to make a stop at the library." "Don't you dare." Rukia turned to give a glare that could melt concrete as she headed into her dorm.


	2. Counting Stars

**AN:** **Thank you for all the reviews! I was surprised that many of you actually liked this story, so here's a new chapter, I hope you guys enjoy, lemme know what you guys think.** **(Sorry for ANY spelling mistakes). M for Mature Language, and later lemons. I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ITS CHARACTERS.**

-Star's POV-

"Oh~! Rukia, who was that boy down there?!" Orihime greeted her bouncing in excitement as Rukia entered the shared room. "He was no one, just someone who walked me home due to an incident earlier." Rukia threw her purse on her bed and took off her jacket.

"Surely you got his number?" The orange asked, flopping down on her bed, "Absolutely not." "Why not? He was cute, Rukia!" Her small fingers ran through her hair, sighing. Honestly, she wasn't interested in anything but graduating at this point; a boy would just distract her and get in her away. "Orihime, I am not interested in dating right now, and you should know that." The girl had tried to get Rukia to go on multiple dates before, but Rukia refused every time. "I just think you would be happy with someone to love you, Rukia." "Thank you for the concern, but I'm happy with my books. I'm going to shower." Grabbing her shower kit, towel, and clothes, she exited her room and walked to the bathroom.

Steaming water ran down her back, washing the soap down the drain, the scent of lavender fill her senses. Stress washed away, she stood there as the water warmed her. Her mind went over the day's events; they were most diffidently out of the ordinary. She prayed that it wouldn't happen again.

Rukia was never the one to date, not even in high school. She had only ever liked one upper class-men whom was a good friend of hers, and his girlfriend she deeply looked up to, but they both passed away on their way to meet Rukia before school. Her heart was broken, split into a million pieces, and if it wasn't for her brother, she would have never returned to school. The driver of the car that hit them was never found, and she hated it. Byakuya did all her could to find the driver, but nothing showed up. She shut herself off, became cold, she kept telling herself it was her fault, only if she had told them not to come by the house that morning, and they would still be here. Kaien and Miyako might still be here.

The shower timer went off; she turned the water off and stepped out into the cold wash room, quickly grabbing a towel to wrap it around her. Pushing her memories of the past away, she dried off and got dressed in her night clothes, plaid pink sleep pants and a Chappy tank. Collecting her shower items, she went back to her dorm, putting herself to sleep.

-Stray's POV-

The next day at work, he just had to brag about the cutie he walked home last night, just a little. "Did she have a nice rack and big ass?" An excited Ikkaku asked. It was lunch time, they sat in the work room of the body shop, eating and conversing. "No man, she was little, but she had some curves. She was beautiful." The last part was muffled by the mouthful of sandwich. "Man what?! You can do better." Swallowing his food, Renji slapped Ikkaku's chips out of his hand, "Do better? She was the most gorgeous woman I have ever met! She's the famous, Byakuya Kuchiki's little sister." The red head rested back, placing hands behind his head, a sly smile on his face, Ikkaku's face was priceless, "THE Byakuya Kuchiki's little sister?! Did you even get her number?" His friend, now practically over the table, "No but, I know where she works. She was kinda mysterious, and cold. But I have a feeling she will warm up to me if I bug her enough."

That was lie, the woman made him nervous, but a good nervous. The more he thought of her, the more he wanted to see her, wanted to get to know her, she made his palms sweat and breath unsteady, and he had only been around her for 15 minutes at the most. The impression Rukia left on him was incredible, did she do this to all the men she came across?

Renji liked to think of himself as a bit of a ladies man, but in all reality, he was clumsy as fuck. He had had a couple of girlfriends, but they didn't last long, two to three weeks, maybe. He just couldn't find, 'the one'.

His boss, by the grace of God, actually let him off early, just around 5 P.M, he saw this as the perfect opportunity to go see little Miss. Kuchiki. Renji cleaned himself off, removing all the dirt and grease he had accumulated, and changed into a clean pair clothes he had stashed in his locker. He hurried out to the parking lot; the autumn wind blew bitterly, and got into the warm shelter of his car. The car was probably his prized possession. The black 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback was his first car, he and his father restored the car just in time for this 16th birthday, and he drove the hell out of it. It had all the bells and whistles, killer sound system, after market muffler, the matte black leather seats and all black interior, it was beautiful. Renji started the car, and drove to the university campus library, which wasn't hard to find, it was probably the largest library he had ever seen.

Getting out the car, he headed in to the library. The campus was pretty busy, many kinds walked about, talked and chatted with their friends, but once he got inside of the library it was fairly quiet. There were quite a few kids in the place but they seemed focused, never even noticing his entrance. And then there she was, organizing a few books on a cart to put them back in their rightful spots.

Renji walked to the counter and rang the bell, "Yes, just one second, please." His eyes watched as she finished up her action and turned around "Alright, how may I help-"Her once friendly smile went away, and a scowl replaced it. "What are you doing?!" Her voice was a harsh whisper, a girl with brown hair, about the length of Rukia's, was giggling at Rukia's flustered reaction to him showing up. The girl quickly stormed out from behind the taller counter to him, "Come with me."

-Star's POV-

Yes, she did tell her friend about the ordeal the other night, about the creep trying to get with her and Renji, only because it was the only thing she did all week that was interesting, and Momo got a kick out of it.

"What on God's green earth do you think you are doing here?! I told you to NOT come here." Rukia spat at him once the two were out of ear shot from the other students, he was like a dog, and he didn't know what the word no meant. What did he want with her away? "I was just coming to say 'hi', geez don't get your panties in a wad," Rukia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "Well you said it, now leave please, I need to get back to work." Her legs worked fast to try and get past him but he was simply too big, and the book cases were too wide. Rukia felt him grip her shoulder, "Wait, no, what time do you get off work? We could go get coffee or something, whatever you like." She turned to face him "I get off in 30 minutes. WAIT, no, no, no, no, no. We are not going anywhere; I don't care if you are paying or whatever, absolutely not." "Rukia, seriously come on, it won't be long."

Rukia looked at him, he was almost pouting, and she sighed "I don't even know you, why would you want to take me to get coffee?" "Because I want to get to know you, Rukia" A flustered red came to her cheeks, and her arms crossed her chest, "Fine, you can pick me up at my dorm."

Once Rukia had gotten him out of the libaray and her hair, she set back down at the counter and rubbed her eyes. "So how was it?" Momo's nose poked out from behind her book, "Don't even say anything."


End file.
